Man charged in downtown hotel slaying

By Drew Joseph :
January 13, 2014
: Updated: January 14, 2014 8:35am

Ivan Cruz Aguilar, 35, was arrested at 6:45 p.m., Monday, Jan. 13, 2014 and charged with murder in the Dec. 23, 2013 slaying of Vincent Diaz, 42, who was found strangled in his room at Candlewood Suites on South Laredo Street.

Photo By Drew Joseph / San Antonio Express-News

Ivan Aguilar, 35, keeps his head down as officers lead him to a police car. Aguilar was charged with murder in the strangling of Vincent Diaz, 42, at a downtown hotel in December.

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police arrested a man Monday in the slaying last month of a California resident who was in town for a funeral.

Ivan Aguilar, 35, was charged with murder. He was taken into custody without incident in the slaying of Vincent Diaz, 42.

Diaz's body was found on the bed in his room at Candlewood Suites on South Laredo Street near downtown, around 2:45 p.m. Dec. 23. His hands were bound and it appeared he had been strangled, according to police.

Diaz and two other people who were staying at the hotel went to a bar after the rosary on the night of Dec. 22, and the two others told police they all left the bar at the same time.

But the next day Diaz did not show up for the funeral. The two others called the hotel staff and asked them to check on Diaz, and that's when he was found, police said.

Security footage from the hotel showed Diaz and a man who police believe is Aguilar return to the hotel around 3 a.m. Dec. 23, with Diaz “touching and holding” Aguilar in the hotel lobby.

The man was seen leaving the hotel around 4:30 a.m., carrying some of Diaz's luggage and personal items, police said.

Detectives identified Aguilar based on the surveillance footage. Police said they are not sure if Diaz and Aguilar knew each other previously.

Diaz was born in San Antonio but was living in Millbrae, Calif., according to his obituary.